WORLD WAR I AND LATVIAN RIFLEMEN IN THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY OF LATVIA

[buksartis]

Зэллис К. World War I and Latvian Riflemen in the collective memory of Latvia.

The centenary of World War I in 2014 drew attention to the significance of this war in the history of Latvia. The aim of this article is to examine how one of the most vivid “sites of memory” of the war - the Latvian Riflemen - evolved and is still being used. The article reveals not only the preconditions and causes for the construction and development of the image of Latvian Riflemen, but also provides a framework which can be applied to analyse the genealogy of the public understanding of historicity and how our and foreign political elites have manipulated this historicity.
Key words:
World War I, riflemen, collective memory.